


Schuyler Street

by JaneyBaney



Category: Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hamliza, Modern Era, Other, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22234270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneyBaney/pseuds/JaneyBaney
Summary: The Schuylers have two new tenants moving into the duplex down the street.Phil sends his three girls over with a pie and gift basket to welcome them to the neighborhood
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	Schuyler Street

**Author's Note:**

> Some slice of life teenage Hamliza.
> 
> I have not written anything hamliza in a full year in half and just missed Hamliza month (not that I would have made it anyway haha)
> 
> Anyway, I'm getting back into the mode. This is gonna be pretty fluffy and light, I don't have it planned going for too many chapters, but who knows.

The pie and gift basket were waiting for them on the kitchen table. 

There was another reason the job of a welcome committee was less than attractive. At least for the middle Schyler daughter.

There was no way around it. It was a simple fact anyone who had heard of Schuyler Incorporated new to be true.

They were rich. They had money. Honestly the money they got from renting out the duplex they didn't even need. 

Vacations to Martha's Vineyard, or Disneyland or abroad or anywhere wasn't unusual for them. But sometimes Eliza tried to reason it wasn't exactly general either.

And they hadn't been raised with every single whim fulfilled. 

But she'd always remember the time in sixth grade when she realized that she was indulged more than some of the other kids she knew.

Mama and Daddy had always made sure their children were raised knowing they had more than most people and to appreciate it.

So it seemed that for some of them, their teenage rebellion was to say "We are rich" as matter of factly, at least among the family, as they could.

Angelica reminded Eliza, "It's not our fault we have the parents we have."

And Eliza would reply you could say that about anyone. Everyone.

"Exactly. So it's kinda ridiculous to feel bad for your Dad getting you a new phone for the holidays."

It wasn't the phone. It wasn't anything of what they had, it was what people thought about them because of what they had.

"Betsey, again," Angelica sighed. "Who cares? People can think what they want. I mean look Daddy could have spoiled all of us rotten, but he didn't. You could have ended up really, really sheltered. But you're not...about some things."

She threw a pillow at her. This wasn't funny.

Phil and Catherine "Kit" Schyler had been born working and middle class. They had met in college and gone on to build a well known and successful land development company from the ground up.

In Eliza's lifetime, the Schyler name was mostly associated with the beautiful neighborhoods around Upstate New York, and Connecticut. 

Lovely, high end suburbs. Some gated, some not, but all built into the wildlife as much as they could be, while still keeping the scenery intack.

Small groves and thickets between houses and neighborhoods on the edge of woods and by rivers.

Brookside Heights was one such community, the same where they lived.

Right on Schuyler Street. Because of course that was appropriate.

Still it wasn't as embarrassing as their parents naming so many streets after them in every new neighborhood.

And it was true. Phil and Kit had raised their sons and daughters to be aware they were born with more advantages than most people. And that it was important to try and help the people who were less fortunate.

Afterall, it is unlikely they'd spend all that money in any of their lifetimes.

Volunteering, charity runs, charity dinners, etc. Was their extracurriculars. And they all found their own little foundations and causes that they were most drawn to.

But, one act of philanthropy that none of the Schuyler kids liked: Going to the rent house, to welcome the new tenants.

One of the houses in Brookside, Phil and Kit had repurposed to be an apartment duplex. On the inside at least. The outside still looked like a regular house.

They selected tenants based on not only who could use a helping hand, but on someone who seemed to deserve it. Who understood what they had been given.

Apartment A, on the left had been rented to Mr. Starre the last two years. He was an ideal tenant. Hard working, steady job so he always paid rent on time. Active in the community. Never any noise complaints.

Apartment B, on the right side, had a more troubled history. And as a result no one ever stayed in it for long.

From the newlywed couple who divorced after eighteen months, and left them with a broken ceiling fan and a hole into the wall, to the weird man who'd eat plaster and stare at them for inappropriate amounts of time…

There was a reason that the morning Phil came into the dining room and asked, "Who wants to do Daddy a favor?" He saw six of his seven children disappear in the blink of an eye. 

The seventh didn't because she was a baby and unable to escape her playpen.

"Mama and I have a good feeling about these two." He said, "A hardworking woman and her son. In fact he's about you girls' age."

"Daddy we're all different ages." Peggy said.

"I said he was "about" your age."

He asked what was the worst that could happen if they went over to deliver a pie and gift basket.

"We make them feel like we're rubbing their noses in the fact we collect their rent." 

"Eliza I highly doubt that's how they'll feel." Phil sat on the pick fluffy computer chair and said, "You know what Rachel said to me when I asked her why she wanted to move here?"

When they asked what, he said she had named safety.

"It seems nice and safe here….more so then where we were in the city." She chuckled nervously. "The big iron gate, and they told me it's closed and locked at eight each evening. That seems perfect...very secure…" She averted her eye from him when she said so.

And her son, who had said nothing the whole interview, seemed to quite possibly be brilliant. 

Rachel explained that Alex wasn't reaching his full potential in his old school. And they didn't offer AP classes. 

"Who knows, Angie." Phil got up, "You might have a match now."

So as it was; Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy were now walking down the street to the rent house. Holding a apple pie and gift basket of wine, cheese and crackers, chocolates, and some expensive root beer.

"Bet he's creepy." 

"You think so?" 

Peggy nodded, "I'd bet on it."

"Based on what?" Eliza asked. "Cause he's...one of our tenants?"

"No but because usually when Daddy thinks any boy is nice he ends up being creepy."

"I agree." Angelica nodded, "Daddy has a bad track record."

Eliza sighed. She couldn't argue that. But still. 

She had left her phone at the house. Take away any chance of carelessly pulling it out and waving it around. 'Oh, yes, the newest iPhone, it's no big deal, hehehe.'

When she suggested they might accidentally start an inferiority complex by going, she saw the way Angelica has shaken her head at her.

Was it that ridiculous? Was it bad she didn't want to give the impression she had no idea how they might feel, coming into an upper class neighborhood from the city?

The rent house stood there, and just from where they were in the street they could make out an old minivan with two figures carrying boxes out and into the house.

"I just want to get the kitchen unpacked." They heard a woman say, as they walked closer. "And your bedroom."

They could see the back of who was probably her son walking into the duplex, then, Rachel Faucette popped out from behind the van, carrying two boxes.

"Let me help you with that!" Angelica handed the pie to Eliza and ran forward, her sisters following.

"Oh, oh thanks." Rachel chuckled. "Just moving in…"

She was a striking woman. She had piercing violet-blue eyes, that drew attention immediately, a charming smile, and sculpted cheekbones. Her hair was loosely tied into a ponytail, and the strands that came loose were lightly curled.

"I'm Angie." Angelica smiled, "These are my little sisters."

Eliza and Peggy waved, introduced themselves. Rachel put the box in her arms on the hood of the van to properly shake their hands. 

Holding up the pie and gift basket, Eliza explained they came to say welcome to the neighborhood.

Rachel's eyes light up with recognition. "Your father said you'd be by." 

"He did?" Angelica asked.

"Yeah," Rachel smiled and nodded. She turned to the sound of a shoe scuffing the porch of the duplex. "Alexander, come here. These are Mr. Schuyler's daughters."

Eliza looked over, and felt herself blush immediately.

Alex had his mother's eyes, and like with Rachel, that was the first thing her eyes were drawn to.

He walked over, his expression became amused when his mom said they were Phil's kids. Like the fact had reminded him of an inside joke.

"I'm Alex." He said politely, shaking Angelica's hand.

"Angie."

"I'm Peggy."

"And this is Eliza…"

Eliza smiled and shook his hand, then held out the gift basket.

Alex took it and showed his mom. Rachel's eye's widened, "Oh wow...that's very nice of you girls."

"You guys pick out everything yourselves?" He asked, looking at Eliza directly.

"Oh our Mama arranged it." Peggy said, and as she did, she realized that he had been joking. Very obviously.

"Well she knows what she's doing doesn't she." Rachel smiled, setting the basket down. 

They stood in silence for a moment. Peggy holding the apple pie, she forgot it was there.

Angelica was about to offer to help them move the rest back in, when Rachel said their father had mentioned how they'd take Alex on a tour of the neighborhood, so don't let her, an old person, hold them up.

"Right!" Angelica said cheerfully, "I almost forgot about that...uh, yeah. Peggy put the pie down. You sure you don't want us to help you move in first?"

"Oh no." Rachel waved a hand, "It's really not that much left, I got it." She pulled Alex into a hug first, before telling them to go have fun. 

"You and your mom close?" Angelica asked as they began down the street.

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Mama's Boy, huh?"

"Angelica!" Eliza scolded. Why did she have to say things for a reaction? And to someone they just met.

"What?" She smirked, "It's the logical next question. And it's not a bad thing."

"I agree." Alex nodded, "Just like being a Daddy's Girl. I mean, I got that impression yesterday."

"From our Dad?" Peggy asked.

"Yeah and the photos he showed me." Alex nodded.

"Wha...what photos?" Angelica asked slowly.

"Just family photos. You three. Mostly you." He looked at Angelica, "Or I think it was you, I dunno, I was hugging my Momma…"

  
  


"So how it go?" Phil asked that night at dinner. 

"Fine." Eliza said, as her and Angelica blotted their pizza.

Their father, brothers, and Peggy loved Harp's Pizzeria, but it always seemed like they dipped the pie in a vat of grease.

"Alex is a nice kid isn't he?" Phil asked.

"Yeah he's okay." Angelica smirked, glancing as Eliza. "He's shorter than I imagined. But you can't have it all."

"So he bested you, eh?" Phil laughed before taking a bite.

Angelica laughed, and said yes, more than once he had caught her off guard. But she returned the favor, so it balanced out. And she had to admit it was refreshing too. 

"Too bad it's my last year as North View." She said, getting a new napkin, "I could have really used someone like him on the Debate Team, or Quiz bowl, or Model UN or...anything."

"Yeah you wouldn't have been hated alone." Resss said with a mouthful. Angelica stuck her tongue out at him, playfully.

"Daddy that reminds me, thanks for telling us." 

"Telling you what Betsey?" 

"Telling us you're showing strangers our baby pictures now." She shrugged, "Oh, wait you did not."

"I didn't show him any baby pictures!"

"Daddy, any photo older than three days, I'm gonna call a baby picture, just so you won't show anyone."

"Rachel and I got to talking about our children!" Phill laughed, "And poor Alexander didn't have anyone to share in his mortification, so I showed her some school pictures."

"Please tell me she showed you some of his then." Peggy said.

"Uh, no, actually, she didn't. I don't think Rachel has a phone."

"Who doesn't have a phone?" PJ asked, coming back from the restroom and reached between his sisters to get a new slice. 

Eliza thought how their mother would not approve of the pizza diet they had taken since she left for the city, as Ress answered.

With an all knowing tone he said, "Poor people."

"Boys." Phil wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Well it's true. Isn't that why you gave them the rent house. You and Mom only rent it to poor people."

"We rent the house to people who we know will take good care of it."

"And who needs cheap rent." PJ said, very matter of factly.

While their father and brothers took the conversation into the other room, Eliza noticed how Peggy and Angelica were looking at her. Expectantly.

"What?"

"Come on."

"Come on what?"

"Eliza just spill."

"Spill what?!" 

They exchanged a look between each other and shrugged.

"You guys play too much, what do you want?"

"Just waiting."

"For?"

"For you to admit your undying love for Alexander." Peggy smiled.

"What!" Eliza dropped her napkin, "What are you talking about? I didn't...we barely even talked!"

"Yeah exactly." Angelica reminded her, she only ever got quiet around boys she thought were cute. 

"Okay thinking someone is cute is not the same as having a crush." And Alex was cute. He was more than cute, he was striking. He commanded attention the moment he looked at you. 

"Mmmhm." Angelica took a bite from her pizza and her and Peggy smiled at each other.

Alex had a good time. He always thought that a few hours with some pretty girls was more likely to lead to a good time than not.

But the Schuyler sisters had surprised him. They were his first genuine surprise since he and his mom had come to Brookside. 

Brookside, he had already found was exactly what he expected, and also unlike anything he had seen before.

Almost like a fairytale, a neat little utopia of big houses, uniformly manicured lawns with nice pockets of wilderness placed strategically all around the neighborhood. 

When they first drove in a few days ago to look at the house, he couldn't take his eyes from the window. There were no fences, so you could see into people's backyards.

Some of those back yards had entire playgrounds in them.

Houses that had three stories. People on riding mowers. Groups of kids his age riding around on bikes no doubt having their own coming-of-age stories, oblivious to what went on outside the large iron gate.

Families sitting on the front patios, with dogs. There was a neighborhood building for meetings and ordinances; this he learned from the brochure.

No discarded cigarettes, or paper bags, or any trash really anywhere on the streets. It was mythologically clean and orderly.

He always knew there were places like this, but he had only seen them in magazines. 

He had seen however the type of people who lived in places like this. His mother too. They both had nervous hearts beating in unison as they admired the new surroundings.

Phil was more or less what he pictured. And so were his daughters when he showed Alex and Rachel their photos. 

Very pretty rich girls, who probably couldn't fathom going more than a few hours without food, or sleeping with no heat.

Who probably would have seen Rachel and Alex's lives as an exciting and novel drama, if it ever struck him to tell them about.

But meeting them in person, Alex found himself pleasantly surprised. He had expected snobbery, and rehearsed politeness. 

Not amiable conversation, or someone like Angelica who he decided was almost as intelligent as him. But definitely as quick witted.

She wasn't apologetic about herself, including her intelligence. She was fun, to sum it up.

Peggy was sweet. Genuinely sweet. And funny when she decided to be.

And Eliza…

He hadn't talked much to her, but she hadn't talked much at all. He tried to draw her into conversation. Each time she seemed to smile or nod in agreement, but, never putting in her own.

She wasn't as talkative as Angelica, so maybe that was it. He would have liked to hear her talk more.

He already decided next time he saw her, which would be tomorrow, he would zip his lips. 

Maybe he hadn't let her speak. The thought of that twisted the knot harder in his stomach.

When he first saw her. Her dark eyes, long hair and legs in those pink shorts, he could have fainted. He could have gone right to her first.

He had known how pretty she was but a picture didn't capture life, not the overall look of life in a person. Not for her.

In the morning they'd be back. He did stiffen a bit, at the thought of them coming into their house.

He already knew that however close they may get in the future, some things he'd never tell them.

Like how this was his first time having his own room. Or that this was only his second time having his own bed.

On St. Croix, it wasn't that unusual for most families they knew to share a bed or sleeping pallet. Even the better off families. 

When him and Mom came to New York, that had been so weird to him at first. 

He had been in the fifth grade. They were drawing "bedtime routines" as part of Family Week.

'Alex still sleeps with his Mama!' 

He still felt a flash of indignation over it, despite the fact it was so many years later. 

He knew he would certainly never tell them about St. Croix. Their life there…

He'd maybe mention James. Not his father. He'd never tell them about the period when they first came here.

He realized, laying in bed hearing his Mom downstairs unpacking, that so much of his history, he never wanted to repeat to anyone.

No one wanted to hear stories like that, did they? And he'd certainly be damned before he let anyone try and pity him or his mother. They both worked too hard for that.

He realized he could completely remake himself now. He could start over.

Downstairs he heard his mother cough a bit, before continuing to unpack. She could start over too. Forget everything else.

He remembered seeing the school building. They went on a tour of it after the interview with Mr. Schuyler. It was so big. There were so many clubs, and different rooms. 

There was a small light growing inside him. Warm and hopeful. Tomorrow they'd be able to start a new life. Completely over.


End file.
